TEMPERED • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Tempered

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/tˈɛmpərd/ Listen

verb

Temper v. t. (past & past part. tempered; pres. part. tempering)

To mingle in due proportion; to prepare by combining; to modify, as by adding some new element; to qualify, as by an ingredient; hence, to soften; to mollify; to assuage; to soothe; to calm. "Puritan austerity was so tempered by Dutch indifference, that mercy itself could not have dictated a milder system." "Woman! lovely woman! nature made thee To temper man: we had been brutes without you." "But thy fire Shall be more tempered, and thy hope far higher." "She (the Goddess of Justice) threw darkness and clouds about her, that tempered the light into a thousand beautiful shades and colors."

To fit together; to adjust; to accomodate. "Thy sustenance... serving to the appetite of the eater, tempered itself to every man's liking."

(Metal.) To bring to a proper degree of hardness; as, to temper iron or steel. "The tempered metals clash, and yield a silver sound."

To govern; to manage. (A Latinism & Obs.) "With which the damned ghosts he governeth, And furies rules, and Tartare tempereth."

To moisten to a proper consistency and stir thoroughly, as clay for making brick, loam for molding, etc.

(Mus.) To adjust, as the mathematical scale to the actual scale, or to that in actual use.

Synonyms: To soften; mollify; assuage; soothe; calm.

Temper v. i.

To accord; to agree; to act and think in conformity. (Obs.)

To have or get a proper or desired state or quality; to grow soft and pliable. "I have him already tempering between my finger and my thumb, and shortly will I seal with him."

adjective

Tempered adj. Brought to a proper temper; as, tempered steel; having (such) a temper; chiefly used in composition; as, a good-tempered or bad-tempered man; a well-tempered sword.

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Etymology of 'Tempered'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Tempered" Quotes from Famous Books

... holding the Plough.} When your Plough is thus ordered and tempered in good manner, and made fit for her worke, it then resteth that you know the skill and aduantages in holding thereof, which indeed are rules of much diuersitie, for if it be a stiffe, blacke clay which you Plow, then can you not Plow too deepe, nor make your furrowes ...

— The English Husbandman • Gervase Markham

... notice by having every man dig a hole in the ground that is large and deep enough to allow him to lie flat in it. The intrenching-tool is a miniature pickax, one end of which resembles a large-bladed hoe with a sharpened and tempered edge. The pick end is used to loosen hard material and to break up large lumps; the other end is used as a shovel to throw up the dirt. When used in this fashion the wooden handle is laid aside, the pick end becomes a handle, and the intrenching-tool ...

— World's War Events, Vol. I • Various

... well aware that in practice the injustice and inconveniences of the system, being always tempered and corrected by ingenious compromises suggested by long experience, are not nearly so great as the mere theorist might naturally suppose; but they are, I believe, quite great enough to prevent the permanent maintenance of the institution, and already ...

— Russia • Donald Mackenzie Wallace

... time, especially of late, had Reverend Mother looked at her with anxious foreboding in her eyes. What would the future hold for this child of hers, endowed as she was with singular beauty and a wonderful voice? She was a docile child, sunny and sweet-tempered, and that very pliancy of nature was what caused the nun many a moment of uneasiness. What would become of her once she had left the shelter of her convent home and was exposed to the influence of the light-hearted, merry, soulless mother from whom she had ...

— The Alchemist's Secret • Isabel Cecilia Williams

... it showed itself in deprecating the quarrel, which lowering brows and raised tones already showed to be impending, by sweet words; at another, by smoothing an invalid's pillow; at another, by soothing a sobbing child; at another, by humoring and softening a father who had returned weary and ill-tempered from the irritating cares of business. None but she saw those things. None but a loving heart could see them. That was the secret of her heavenly power. The one who will be found in trial capable of great acts of love, is ever the one who is ...

— Daily Strength for Daily Needs • Mary W. Tileston

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